Photo Post for "Nothing Bad - A Werewolf Rock Musical"

So, I wasn't able to share all the photos from our Rock Musical during Fringe because I didn't want to give anything away but since we're not doing the show for a little while, I feel like it's ok to share.  It's out of context, right?  And you'll still be totally surprised if it re-opens and you come see it...it'll be brand new!

Welcome to Perfection, California!

Mayor White and some pretty amazing Werewolves!

It was a challenge to do the make-up so quickly, I only had 20 minutes to change everything and Kenni designed a really interesting look for the werewolves. I loved being able to play the opposite of what I was, although in constant control and power.  It was totally different than any role I've ever played before.  I started with a 50's vintage make-up style after perusing some different hair and make-up looks and settled on something glam but classic.  It's something I could easily do day to day and still look natural.  The 80's werewolf make-up was rocker-esque, especially my Joan Jett wig!

We did have a professional photographer come and shoot photos at our preview and then closing night so hopefully I'll have some more Werewolf photos to add to this post later on :)

"Nothing Bad - A Werewolf Rock Musical"

We closed out our final show of "Nothing Bad - A Werewolf Rock Musical" at the Hollywood Fringe Festival the last weekend in June.  My Dad was in town to see our final show and we sold out most of our performances which as a new theater was so exciting!

"Nothing Bad" was ranked one of the Top 5 Musicals to see at the Fringe Festival this year and also a 'Pick of the Fringe.'  Our small cast of 10 people really brought it and Erik Blair created a really great script and show.  Dan Sugimoto wrote the music for the show which was a mix of 50's and 80's rock and SO catchy. Thea Rivera was Producing and doing pretty much anything she could to promote the show and make sure that we had people in the seats.  It was a success on all levels.

'Nothing bad happens here, nothing bad that we can see or hear and we've been living here all our lives!'

I play Mayor White, the Mayor of the town who holds a dark secret I don't share until the end of the show.  We've got a couple different stories going on throughout the show that all tie together.  I was so glad Rachel decided to join the show because I had a buddy at rehearsals and I couldn't have done my part without her.  She helped me run-lines before every show and supported me when I felt over-whelmed with everything going on.  Thanks so much, Rach <3

We found out we did get a Fringe Extension Award and I hope at some point my friends who couldn't come to see the show while the festival was going on but wanted to will be able to check it out in the future.

I also got my first ever review, and it was a positive one!  I love what I do but it's really great to hear that other people enjoy your performance and portrayal as well.  It feels really nice when someone waits for you after the show to tell you how much they loved my character.  You can read one of the reviews here: Indie Voice Blog

Mayor White in Perfection, California

Unfortunately we weren't able to pick-up an extension date because our whole cast wasn't available for any of the specific dates they had but this is certainly not the end for "Nothing Bad!"  Thanks to the cast and crew of our show.  This was a different role for me to play and I really enjoyed the challenge of playing such a strong-willed, very political character with a wild turn-around.  You were right, Erik ;)

New York! Part 4.

Before we knew it, it was our last day in New York and we only had 24 hours to cram as much of Manhattan into that short time-frame.  There were so many things we didn't get to see, some of which I saw when I was 17 and on my high school choir trip, but more that we missed out on.  We filled that last day with as much as possible...though I wish we would have been able to check out a Yankee's game!  Next time!

Chris, Old Man Charlie Buckets and me
in Central Park :)

Sam had picked out a deli near Central Park that we stopped at on our way to meet my friend, Chris and his pup, Old Man Charlie Buckets, there that afternoon.  We met by MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) and found a spot at the park to enjoy our sandwiches and Lunch.  Chris played music from the radio station he works for and we were able to catch up.  He goes by D.J. Baron and you can find the station right here: http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/home/using-the-library/start-here/access-fort-wayne/95-7-welt The gals all loved Old Man Charlie Buckets, and he loved our sandwiches!

After Lunch, Chris went on his way (so great to see him), and while Rachel and Giana went to the Zoo, Sam and I made our way back to Broadway so we could rush a show that evening.  I walked over to the theater 'Wicked' was at but the man at the ticket window said getting a lottery ticket would be very slim since it was so beautiful outside and a Friday, so my best ticket would be $100 and that would be at the back of the house up in the balcony.  I met back up with Sam and we decided we wanted to see Miss Saigon.  I can't figure out where I had heard the music prior, maybe Karaoke, but music is a huge selling point on seeing a show for me!  I picked up some gifts from one of the Tourist Shops and Sam and I also went into the M&M Place before heading back to the Hotel for Happy Hour before Dinner.

Central Park

We had Dinner plans near Broadway since Rachel and Giana were seeing Avenue Q and we had our Miss Saigon tickets.  We went to Ageha, a Sushi place that had a menu that rivaled Cheesecake Factory.  Thankfully it had pictures which made it much easier to go through since the names of things were totally different than your traditional sushi place. We all got fun cocktails and ordered food.  I got a Sashimi Platter, Rock Shrimp Tempura, and a Happy Mango Roll with Spicy Tuna.  It was so much food we actually took it with us and gave it to some people in need on the walk to the theater. 

Sashimi from Ageha

And now...Miss Saigon.  Our seats were in the aisle on the left side fairly close up and we got them at a great price, less than the balcony 'Wicked' tickets.  In all honestly, I prefer being in the balcony; I'd rather look down at the stage than crane to look up.  The show is lead by the Engineer, played by Jon Jon Briones and he was incredible.  He kept the energy of the show going the entire time and was so talented.  Gigi sang one of my favorite songs in the show, "Movie in my Mind," and I loved seeing her in the final scene.  As soon as Kim (Eva Noblezada) started singing, it was breath-taking.  She performed so effortlessly, and even though she's petite, her presence spoke volumes.  By the end of the show, her character has built so much and the anger and frustration is felt by everyone.  Alastair Brummer who portrayed Chris was another integral part to the show; he and Eva worked so well together, especially singing "Last Night of the World."  After hearing it, I can't wait to sing it at Karaoke.  The love was there the entire time, during "Sun & Moon" as well and you see him torn between Kim and his wife, Ellen (played by Katie Rose Clarke).   I was torn in my emotions with Ellen potentially being my favorite character.  "I Still Believe" sang by Kim and Ellen was my ultimate song in the whole show (I put all these songs on a playlist as soon as I got home).  The helicopter scene was definitely neat, and the secondary characters, Chris' boss, and the showgirls, and ensemble were all really incredible.  The choreography was very impressive and the lighting for the show was the best I've ever seen in any production.  Overall, I was glad to see the show and it brought all the emotions out!

After Miss Saigon with Sam

After our shows were over we all met up and decided to go to Latitude, a roof-top bar, where we climbed three flights of stairs to a quaint roof-top, greeted by a very handsome bartender, Charles.  Rachel wasn't a fan, probably because he was cocky as all get-out, but he did get us all shots before we left to head over to the Gansevoort Hotel, where bottle service was waiting for us.  It was quite a production at the Hotel but we danced and enjoyed a couple cocktails and the awesome go-go dancers.  Before it was too late we wanted to hit up one more bar, so we walked over to Churchill Tavern to get a beer before heading back to the Hotel.  Our new friend, Tony, regaled us on Manhattan activities and walked us back to the Hotel but not before getting a Street Dog (Rach and I needed to have one before we left New York) at 4 am!  It was delicious and the perfect close to the evening.

The Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan!

Bye Bye New York

And that's how we closed out our trip to New York.  A wild night on the town, culture and talent, great food, beautiful scenery and good friends, old and new.  After a terrific four days there it was really hard to say goodbye.  I was bummed to be leaving the next morning but we took advantage of our Continental Breakfast included in our hotel stay and then packed our suitcases before heading to JFK and Giana back to the Upper West Side.  The best part of the flight to LA was my discovery of 'Jane the Virgin' and Justin Baldoni!  Whew.  Look him up!  It's a good thing he's married ;)  The worst part about the flight back was realizing as soon as I stepped into LAX that I felt like something was missing.  I realized it was the same feeling I had whenever I left Winona, Minnesota (where I went to College) or when I'd head back to LA after being back in Wisconsin.  These places felt like home and Manhattan had that same effect on me.  I have no idea what that means, I only wish I could be bi-coastal and live on the West Coast and have a place near Manhattan, at some point in my life, but for now, I'll stick with California...or Arizona, or Texas (Dallas or Austin) or Nashville, Tennessee...  I haven't settled on a place just let, but don't worry, I'll let you know.  The important thing to remember is what a wonderful trip to New York that we had and I can't wait to go back as soon as possible <3

Sunday Funday at The Friend and more!

Sunday ended up being a really busy and fun day!  After I had my Table Read for Popcorn Talk on Friday I had an audition for a musical that's going up for the Hollywood Fringe Festive.  I got a call-back for the musical on Sunday evening so that was an exciting way to start my night!

A Vodka Mojito at The Friend

Sunday mornings Rutherford and I always take a nice long walk around the neighborhood, we do some training, and it tuckers him out for a few hours and allows me to get some work done.  I had my call-back in the early evening and it went really well.  I felt very connected to the character and had prepped it on Saturday so I was completely memorized.  After that I rushed over to West Hollywood to see my friend Mike Strassner in his Groundlings Show with my co-worker from Bar Lubitsch, Geri!  It was called, 'What Happens in Sunday Stays in Sunday' and it was my first ever Groundlings Show.  Such a fun time and Strass did a great job!

Jared, the owner of Bar Lubitsch was having a little Friends & Family Night at his new bar, The Friend, in Silver Lake that night!  DJ Matt Wise was spinning the tunes, there were complimentary Absolut and Tequila cocktails, and a bunch of my co-workers from Lubitsch were all going.  Unless we have something planned, it's really hard to get all of us together in one place at one time.  I don't usually go out in Silverlake as it's a trek from Culver City but it ended up being a great night.  It was great to see all my friends at The Friend ;)

Lubitsch Ladies, Lauren, Ashley, myself, Geri, and Anita!

Unfortunately, I missed Dinner so Adam and I had a little 'Office' night at my apartment and he made his famous Taco's and had a little Rutherford time.  A full day from beginning to end, filled with acting, inspiration, and good friends.  A perfect Sunday Funday.

Thenardier's Inn...One Day More!

We made it through another extension of 'Thenardier's Inn - A Les Miserables Cabaret' and it was such a fun run!  We had plenty of time for rehearsals to prepare for the show with a mostly new cast and it certainly paid off.  The show was sold out every week and we barely had any space left for our closing show this past Saturday!  Thankfully, Three Clubs (the venue of our show in Hollywood) was happy to have us and we loved filling the space and sharing our hard work and 'Thenardier's Inn' with new audience goers as well as repeat guests!

Double the Trouble, Master & Madame of the House!

It was such a blast to play Madame Thenardier for this run!  She's a wild and fun character and with Nathan as the Master of the House, I couldn't imagine playing the role opposite anyone else.  The relationship we have built through rehearsals, the show and more translates on-stage and I feel like I'm working with a best friend.  It's a really great feeling and since we have to be a team, that playfully picks on one another, steals things during the show, and feeds off the audience to tell the story, I'm proud to get to work beside him!  We did our first show together 'Babes In Toyland' nearly two years ago!

The rest of the cast that stepped into new roles really impressed me, as I've been a part of the show for over a year now and we've had some fabulous cast members.  Everyone brought a fresh perspective to their roles and also brought the humor.  It's the same show but with little tweaks here and there that brought new life into something that was fabulously magical to begin with!  Michael took over as Director and lead us into a creative environment where we could play.  He as able to keep all the parts that have worked over this past year and also give the audience some new discoveries.  Thanks to our Improv, the show changes and evolves every time and we find out what works and get to keep the audience on their toes. 

I have all the emotions and colors of the rainbow :)

After one of our best shows ever on Saturday night we were all excited to announce that we'll be going into our seventh extension in November!  I will be playing Madame Thenardier for one more day, on November 7th which is also the One Year Anniversary of the show.    I can't believe we've been doing this for a year!  We have some old cast members that will be joining us for this show, as well as filling the audience with family and friends.  My parents and brother will be in LA for the week so I'm so glad that they'll be able to see me perform as Madame Thenardier (especially my Dad and Brother) since they haven't seen me in a Theater show since I was in College!

These tickets will sell out by the end of this week because it's such a monumental show for all of us.  You can purchase tickets at www.cacstudios.com using the Promo Code: NOTLESMIS for 50% off tickets or if we're sold-out there you can go to www.goldstar.com for discounted tickets as well.  Since it is our Anniversary Show and we're inviting all the CAC Studio/Theater Company Members it's going to be an incredible show and tickets will go fast, so if you want to see me one last time as Madame Thenardier, check out the above listed websites and get your ticket for November 7th!  I can't wait to share this with you <3

Our Current 'Thenardier's Inn' Cast...I love being your Madame!

"Can't we just do this forever?" ~ My words at Intermission during our first show on November 7th 2014...and we are!

Princesses in 4D!

Last weekend I was in Creating Art's 'Princess, Prince, & Pirate's in 4D' show.  Our director, Shannon, had written it to be a Choose Your Own Adventure show so the kids would actually decide what was happening throughout the show.  It was based strongly on improv and allowing the children to get involved and no show was going to be exactly the same.

Flynn & Rapunzel

To make the show 4D there were scents that were sprayed throughout the theater depending on where we were; there was a beach/sea scent, a clean scent for the library, and woodsy/musk scent for the forest.  We also had snow during our scenes with Anna and Elsa, and other little touches to create all the senses.  The kids really loved deciding how we would react or what we would do and were very vocal about it.  What Princess did they want to see first?  Did we want to find Elsa or build a snowman?  They were creating magic!  Of course, there were songs involved in every step of the way!

For this show most of us had to play two different Princesses, and the guys had to play multiple roles as well from Princes throughout history.  I started off the show as Rapunzel and the kids were so excited to see me.  During both shows I had little girls run up and hug me or tell me they just watched my movie.  They don't care that there's a show that's going on, they just want to talk to you because it means so much to them.  It was so adorable!  I also got to sing 'I See The Light' with Flynn during our opening scenes.  I had a quick change to Pocahontas, whom I played for the rest of the show.  Lucky for me, I had two extremely long wigs and got to play the best of both worlds, a blond and a brunette.  The story-line led us to find our Fairy Godmother's magic wand that was found by Robin Hood, stolen by Blackbeard, and with the help of Capt. Jack Sparrow, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charmping, Aladdin, Jasmine, and more we were able to get the magic wand back to it's rightful home safe and sound, making it an adventure.  Along the way, I lead everyone 'Just Around The Riverbend' as we later on had to 'Build A Snowman' with the help of Christophe, Anna & Elsa, and more.

Just some of our Princesses before the show...Belle, Rapunzel, Tinkerbell, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White!

It was crazy how excited all the kids were to tell us what was happening or what we missed while we were off-stage.  Our first show went almost 90 minutes because the kids were so talkative with us.  Luckily, we planned for that during our second show and were able to keep things moving more quickly for our Sunday show.  Either way, the children loved it, and the parents did too!  We always get the kids up and dancing with us and there's plenty of time after the show for pictures as we get mobbed on the Promenade after our final bows.  

It's not always kids wanting to take pictures with Snow White & Pocahontas ;)

This was definitely my favorite Princess Show because of all the characters involved and also having the Prince's and Pirate's join us too.  It made it exciting for the little boys as well to have someone to look up to.  For putting the show together in just a week I'm so proud of all of our new members as well as our veterans.  I only wish that the show would have run for another week or two!

*Thanks to Kristina, Alex, & Finley, Neil and Spark, and others who came to see our Princess Show!*

'Babes' Opening Show!

This Saturday was the opening of the show I'm in, 'Babes In Toyland' at the Miles Playhouse in Santa Monica.  It is a Children's Play for ages 11 months to 6 years and families, and we sing, dance, and act, getting the children involved in the fun.  It's running for the next 5 weeks on Saturday's and starts at 11 am and lasts just a little over a half hour.  You can find all the information on the Creating Arts website at: Babes In Toyland

Our cast is small with just 5 people but I really felt like we all lit up the stage once the show started and we heard the kids yelling out answers to what time of year it is and how one would get through snow.  After that, the rest of the show is a blur for me because I felt like my adrenaline went through the roof and the amount of energy I exerted took over and I just remember seeing the happy smiles on the kids faces, and smiling proud parents as their children were dancing and singing along with us.

Showtime for Little Bo Peep, The Toymaker, Mother Goose, Tom Piper and Mary Contrary!

We sing some Christmas songs as well as children's favorites, and a few songs from Nursery Rhymes and I have a couple solo's as well.  Maya was our director, choreographer, and singing coach and she pulled all of us together to bring an amazing show that will continue to improve week after week!  It was almost a let down after the show was over and I went back home and went about my day but thankfully I have 5 more weeks of performances to get my acting fix.

This is definitely a great company to be a part of and I can't wait for what else I can get involved with in the future :)

'Babes In Toyland'

I got it!  I auditioned for the role of Mary Contrary in 'Babes In Toyland' a week and a half ago and found out a couple days later that I booked the role!  When I first saw they were holding auditions I was super excited because I used to watch the movie with Drew Barrymore, Keanu Reeves, and Eileen Brennan all through the Christmas season (and Summer, guilty pleasure) and now I was getting to audition for it.

The audition consisted of a cold-read and song.  When I got to the audition and saw it was a scene from 'Music Man' I got a little nostalgic remembering I had played the role of Amaryllis when I was 14, and sure enough, the cold-read scene was one I did in that exact play, except this time I would be reading as Marian Paroo.  Since the play was a musical, we all had to sing so I chose 'Baby Love.'  I felt great about the audition and knew that it was a waiting game but I was really hoping to be cast.  I sent out a thank you for having me in to audition on Monday and by Tuesday I had confirmed the role of 'Mary Contrary' and was sent the rehearsal schedule, script, and music.

 

My hardly can contain myself smirk...
and this headshot reminds me of Christmas!

'Babes In Toyland' opens in a week and a half, as they have a very quick turn-around and prep for this show especially since it's for The Twinkle Theater.  This show is recommended for children 11 months to 5 years old accompanied by their family's as an introduction to theater.  As soon as I found out the show was for babies, I was totally in!  Of course, I would love for all of my friends in LA to come and see it as well because it is a Christmas/Holiday Show; there's singing, dancing, and acting, and will just be a fun experience, plus I might nuzzle you with a Teddy Bear :)

We've had a couple rehearsals already, meeting the rest of the cast, whom are mostly from the Midwest, ran through the script a handful of times, along with the music, figured out the blocking and this weekend we will probably be running through the entire show considering the following Saturday, November 30th, will be our first performance for the public.  The show runs on Saturdays at 11 am at the Miles Playhouse in Santa Monica on Lincoln & Wilshire Blvd and goes until January 4th.  So we will be performing 6 shows (one of which I will be in Wisconsin for, so someone will be filling my role that week) put on by the Creating Arts Company who will also have other shows running in the same weeks just on different days.

I'm so excited to be a part of a theater show again as it's been 8 years since the last time I did theater.  Singing to each other in rehearsals makes my ears smile, that's how happy I am, to be doing exactly what I love!  I can't wait for our first show in just 10 days!!

You can find out more information about the show and get tickets here:
Babes In Toyland Tickets

'Jekyll & Hyde'

I had the pleasure of getting to see 'Jekyll & Hyde' the Musical at The Pantages Theater in LA on Tuesday night!  Special thanks to Mr. Daly who gave me the 2 tickets as he was traveling all week and was in New York the night of the show, so I was able to take Kristina with me and have a fun Girl's Night!  Both of us grew up and were involved with theater and music, so this was right up our alley.  I already knew a bunch of the music from the show because of singing a 'Jekyll & Hyde' Medley in my High School choir and loved the songs!

Let me start by saying the women's restroom on the main floor is incredible.  I felt like I was in 'Snow White' because of the way the mirrors were set up, in a giant room with individual seats and vanity's, with diagonals and the mirrors looked like they were cracked, but weren't.  I loved it!  We had great seats, Row V in the Orchestra, so just 50 feet or so from the stage, and the show started promptly at 8 pm.  The two title roles of Jekyll/Hyde and Lucy were played by American Idol's Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox who had music on the Billboard Charts and has also collaborated with Whitney Houston and Andrea Bocelli.  Teal Wicks played the role of Emma and was definitely a stand-out with a beautiful voice that she made seem effortless...awesome!  I've been a fan of Deborah Cox and she made me fall in love with some of the songs she sang because she had some great notes and she brought so much to the character.  The acting was incredible but I do have to say Kristina and I were disappointed with some of the songs and we felt as though some of the voices were strained and there were missed notes.  Constantine was much stronger as Edward Hyde than Jekyll and once he sang 'Alive' I completely realized why he was cast, because the rocker in him came out; he was dark and mysterious, scary at times, but had the perfect voice for Hyde.  There were 2 distinct characters which was the point of the whole story, but his voice was more fitting for Hyde, in my opinion.  The ensemble and other main characters were great, some people coming from 'Rent,' 'Wicked,' and even 'Les Miserables.'

Overall, the show was good.  It would be interesting to see the show again with the Broadway Cast but it was such a fun experience to get to see a show of this caliber here in LA, and back to my resolutions, was something new for me, so that was exciting!  I loved the chemistry between Maroulis and Cox, and 'A Dangerous Game' became my favorite song because the tension between the two during the song just sucked you in, and I loved that!  I tended to like the duets more, 'Take Me As I Am' and 'In His Eyes' were strong points, and I loved Wicks performance of 'Once Upon a Dream' which I think might be a future Karaoke song for me.  The costumes were gorgeous; I love that era, and I was impressed by the quick changes (knowing how fast you have to be, since I did musicals all through high school).  The lighting was great and complimented the set well.  For a smaller venue, they changed things up a lot and that added to the show.  It's not just the cast that makes the show, it's the crew, and what they bring to the table, and all of that was spot on.

I would definitely see the show again if it came to town.  Plus, as soon as I got home, I downloaded a bunch of new music from the show because I couldn't wait to hear some of the songs again, so that was cool.  'Jekyll & Hyde' is only in LA for a couple more days but this certainly makes me want to go see more Musicals when they come to LA :)

Weekend Auditions!

It's been a busy work week and on top of that this weekend brought my first two Auditions of 2013!  My first was on Friday morning for the new Myspace and the second one was this afternoon for the role of Mimi in the musical 'Rent!'

 

Myspace is doing a re-launch this Spring and it will no longer just be a social media platform it's going to be focused on Artists in all fields.  My Audition on Friday morning was in Hollywood at a Casting Studio and after filling out a long questionnaire about myself including my background, skills, aspirations, inspirations, and other fun info I was ready to do the on-camera Audition.  It wasn't actually an Audition, more of an interview from the questions I had answered, and like usual, I was being filmed and had to slate, but this video is actually going to go up on my new Myspace page once it re-launches this Spring!  Basically, they're editing the interview into a 1 minute video that will sell you and try to get sponsorship from producers looking for new talent.  I pitched one of my ideas for my own show that I want to film and put up on Youtube, and also talked about Hosting Karaoke, Cooking and making up Recipes, as well as Acting.  The interview seemed to go by quickly and about 10 minutes later they told me I was all set.  The totally random part of the whole thing was that the cameraman was from Wisconsin and the Interviewer's brother lived in Wisconsin and worked at Epic, which is where my brother used to work.  I love how small LA can be at times!

 

Today I had an Audition for the role of Mimi in 'Rent.'  I've been fighting off a cold for the past couple of days because everyone has been getting sick and to be perfectly honest, I knew I would catch it at some point because I come into contact with hundreds of people when I'm working at the bars or Hosting Karaoke.  I just hoped it would wait until Monday when the Audition and Call-Backs were over and as fate would have it, I woke up this morning and could barely speak.  I've been taking good care of myself all week, not drinking, eating healthy, and trying to get sleep even though I've been so busy with work.  So this morning as soon as I got up, I made this Immunity Boosting Tea, took a nice hot shower, had a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and tried to practice my two song selections which were 'Another Day' from "Rent" and 'Gravity' by Sara Bareilles.  I figured if I couldn't sing my absolute strongest at least I would look the part of Mimi and put on some patterned tights,  my combat boots, left my hair wavy, and did more Latin looking make-up, to try to look as close to her as possible.  There was a dancing portion so they had told us to dress appropriately for that and I was comfortable but still looked the part.  I grabbed some hot tea from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on the way and had a packet of Emergen-C in my bag for my water bottle when I finished the tea.  I prepared myself as best as possibly, trying to rest my voice and only sing when I had to.

 

Channeling Mimi from 'Rent'

When I arrived at the Audition it was in a 2 hour block and there were about 20 people that were auditioning for the Musical.  Everyone got to sing their songs first and then there would be a Dance portion at the end.  Most of the girls at the Audition were auditioning for the role of Mimi so I also said I would consider Maureen because it would give me another opportunity but I really wanted the role of Mimi.  We were told we only had to sing one song and to pick our best one and if they wanted to hear the other one they would tell you.  People went in one by one and I went outside to practice one last time before I auditioned.  I decided on 'Another Day' and when I got called into the room, the Casting Director told them my name and I went in with energy and smiles, got my starting note from the accompanist and sang my song.  My voice wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be but there was nothing more I could do about that and I had done my best to be able to make it through the song, so I sang with emotion, love, hopefulness, and strength as Mimi did.  I felt the part, I felt the song, and as they thanked me when I finished up, I knew that I did my best but that this time it just wasn't good enough.  Once everyone finished we went downstairs to learn the choreography and that was pretty easy and a lot of fun.  We got partnered up and worked through the choreography a few times, rehearsing it in front of the Directors and Producers and then doing it in small groups.  I felt a lot stronger in my dancing because of my theater background and my ability to have fun with the steps and add some flair to it.  I also knew, no matter how well I danced, they had already made their decisions for call-backs, so I had fun, smiled, and flipped my hair with sass.  

 

They announced the names of those who would attend call-backs tomorrow and I was not one of them.  I'm definitely bummed but there's nothing I can do.  I did my best and I got to Audition for a show that I've always wanted to be a part of and hopefully I'll get another opportunity when I'm not sick with a cold.  I'm proud that I went to this audition and gave it my all, no regrets, and they'll be more challenges and opportunities in the future!  As for my Myspace Interview, that'll be up in the next few weeks and I'll post that link as soon as I have it.  

 

Stay warm everyone and keep your eye on the prize!

'Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReinDoors'

This Sunday I went to see 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindoors' (the classic story with music from The Doors for a modern twist) put on by the Troubadours at the Falcon Theater in Toluca Lake and what an experience it was!

Ready and waiting for the show to start!

Andy invited me to the show and I'm so glad that he did because it was an absolute blast!  The Cast came out caroling a few Christmas songs and when the show was about to start, something happened with the video play-back and they had to Improvise through it but it was actually more funny without the video.  Donner narrated the whole show and really had a tough job of keeping the show upbeat and moving forward and he did an awesome job!  The Cast brought so much energy to the show it made it so much fun for the audience.  Each member of the Cast played different roles throughout the show with multiple costume changes and it really made me miss doing Theater and the excitement of playing to a live audience and how each show is different.  What made this show even better was that there was so much Improv and how they worked with the elements to make it special for each performance.

My favorite parts of the show were the group numbers because at one point there was an Aerial Dancer doing tricks above the stage, my friend Andy, was juggling while on top of a ball that he rolled across the stage, and there was even an acrobatic stilt walker that was a dude and kicked higher than some of the cheerleaders on my college team!  The music really brought life to the Play and I realized I knew a lot more Doors songs than I thought!  Another favorite part was the snow falling throughout the audience during one of the final scenes and Rudolph flying all over the stage and also reciting the whole 'Rudolph' story that we all know and love.  The Cast got the audience involved by having us sing along, they called people out and joked around with them too.  I loved when Andy played a Mini-Elf and almost fell out of Santa's Sleigh!

It was a really great show and I'm so glad that I went; not to mention that doing something new like going to see a Musical/Play is one of my Resolutions this year!  I will definitely see more shows at The Falcon Theater put on by the Troubadours because this was very special, so different than anything I've seen since I've moved to LA and it makes me really enjoy being an Actor and making people laugh and smile :)